Transit Tip 3. Take the lane!

Too many bicyclists try to ride as far out of the traffic stream as possible. This makes you much more vulnerable to hazards such as debris, potholes, suddenly opening car doors, turning cars, and cars/trucks passing too closely. Prevent all of these by being visible and claiming your position in the lane to discourage unsafe driver behavior. Take the lane whenever you need it. Car drivers don't feel bad about taking the lane for themselves, and you shouldn't either. See Bicycle Safe for more tips.

For what it's worth, bus drivers are also taught to take the lane in certain situations to discourage or prevent unsafe driving practices by others (i.e. when a lane is too narrow for a bus, or when periodic hazards are present in the right lane).

Transit Tip 2. Fewer seats, more space, faster service

`Instead of trying to maximize seating capacity, think about total capacity and circulation. In these times of crowded vehicles and reduced budgets, we need as many people on the bus as possible, as quickly as possible. Design wide aisles, standing room and space for strollers, carts and large bags.

Transit Tip 1. Information: put it everywhere!

Providing comprehensive transit information is arguably the most important element of a useful system. Sure, you need to run a reliable service, but people need to know how it can help them and how they can use it. Sometimes you just need a quick schedule check. Sometimes you need to know the universe options. Usually it's something in between. Yet so many bus stops lack basic schedule information, or worse, don't even say what services might stop there.

Maintaining current schedules can be a challenge as they can change often. But the actual routes and their span and frequency rarely change. Make it a goal for every stop to display a route map, an overview of each route's span and frequency, and the operator's phone number and website.

Transit Tips: a new feature

Transit Tips is a new feature on Critical Transit, offering quick suggestions to improve transportation services and bike and pedestrian safety. Some are cheap and easy; others take time to implement, but all are simple strategies intended to help us make real improvements for transit users in a practical manner without compromising our values. Further discussion is encouraged. Transit Tips will be posting several times each week.

Have an idea for a Transit Tip, or thoughts on an existing tip? Get in touch via the contact page or leave a comment.